Ornamental display device



Nov. 28, 1950 H. H. GRATlOT ORNAMENTAL DISPLAY DEVICE Filed June 1, 1948 HARVEY H GRA'r/o'r INVEN TOR.

Patented Nov. 28, 1950 ORNAMENTAL DISPIZAEDEVl-CE Harvey H. Gratiot, Peruanmmeg; Application June 1, 1948 srial Ndl'mYfi'l'i v 2 Claims. (01. it-1301 1 This invention relates to improvements irr orr'iamentat display devices and more particularly toe. new and novel. manner of constructing the same and'tlie provision of multficoloredtrzinS- parent elements associated with: the device for directing various colors to the object or objects displayed.

Another object of the invention is theprovi sion of adeviceof this-character wherein the object being displayed is completely s'ea' led on the interior of a block of transparent material to protect the article against dust, discoloration and other forms of deterioration as a result of handling and the like.

A further object resides in the method of imbedding the object within said block of transparent material wherein the display or representation is given a certain degree of depth and roundness.

A still further object is the provision of means for conveniently shifting, as well as blending, the colors projected onto the display. The color projecting elements are 50 arranged that the color may be projected either by sunlight or by artificial lighteither superimposed upon the colored elements or extended through them when they are arranged in tubular form as will be more fully hereinafter pointed out.

These and other objects will appear as my invention is more fully hereinafter described in the following specification, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a display device made in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing a modified method of embedding the article to be displayed within the display device.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a further modified form of the invention showing the application of artificial light to the color projecting elements.

Figure 6 is a reduced perspective View of the rear face of the main body of the display device showing the manner in which an impression or cavity is formed therein to define the display which is formed by placing moldable material, such as plaster of Paris, molding clay and the like, which may be coated or covered with any selected color or combination of materials.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing:

The display device comprises a vertically disposed body member I formed of clear, colorless plastic material which may be of any height and length and mounted upon any suitable base 2 iii) by any appnoved'method such; as: cementing or; the: like:

In the rear face of the body member, as best illustrated in Figured; I form the outlineofi-the artiele -to hewdisplayed jusingaza :steel die :or;

pattern heated to a suificient temperatureuto. melt I the; plastic so that an impression .3 maybe made to any a desired depth or the "impression. may be'moldedor'pressed- The: impression is :filledrover itsentirw area with the material used to represent the article to be displayed. I have obtained satisfactory results by using plaster of Paris, molding clay, and the like. The filler is smoothed off flush with the rear face of the body member and to seal the filler within the impression, I secure to the rear face of the body member a back wall 4 which may be of any desired color to provide a suitable colored background-for example, to

represent a blue sky in back of a snow-covered mountain outlined by the impression.

In Figure 4, the cavity is formed either by a male die or cut by a fluted cutter. In either case the top and/or side edges of the cavity are undercut as at 5 to form a background spaced rearwardly from the edges of the object. This enables the light from above to be projected forwardly and rearwardly of the object to produce the effect of depth as aforesaid.

As previously stated, the body member I is made of clearly transparent material so as not to obstruct any external light being projected onto the object within the impression. To render the object more colorful and to simulate various hues of sunlight ranging from sunrise to Z sunset, I provide the top surface of the body member with a plurality of colored lenses generally indicated at 6 which are removably attached to each other and to a supporting frame generally indicated at l by the dove-tailed formation of their side edges and with correspondingly shaped ends of a slot 8 formed in the supporting frame. By this arrangement the lenses {may be transposed into various positions to vary the lighting effect upon the object within the impression when placed in the sunlight or beneath an artificial light.

As a modification of this colored lighting medium, I provide the top surface of the body memher with an elongated housing 9 within which I rotatably mount a tube It. The tube is made of various colored strips or segments H of plastic; extended the full length of the tube. One end of the tube is flanged as at I2 to provide a convenient finger grip for rotating the tube within the housing to selectively direct the desired colors of light onto the object within the impression. The light is produced by an elongated tubular light bulb l3 disposed within the tube and se-' cured at one of its ends to a socket 14 through which current is applied to the lamp through wires l5 extending from any convenient plug-in receptacle or other source of electric supply.

While I have'shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention, I am aware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An ornamental display device comprising a base, a vertically disposed body member of transparent material mounted upon the base, a cavity formed in the rear surface of the body member and undercut along certain of its edges, an image disposed within said cavity, a plurality of translucent colored elements interchangeably superimposed upon the body member for projecting colored light downwardly upon and about all sides of said object.

' 2. An ornamental display device comprising a base, a vertically disposed body member mounted upon the base, a cavity formed in the rear surface of the body member and filled with opaque material to represent an object, the edges of said cavity being undercut, a colored opaque back wall secured to the body member and entirely covering the rear face of said object, a plurality of various colored transparent elements interchangeably attached to the top of said body member for projecting colored light upon said object.

" HARVEY H. GRA'IIOT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 485,032 'Haley Oct. 25, 1892 1,707,965 Scantlebury Apr. 2, 1929 1,933,803 Hickman Nov. 7, 1933 1,936,734 Rupp Nov. 28, 1933 2,262,930 Gasper Nov. 18, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 191,220 Great Britain Jan. 11, 1923 771,394 France July 23, 193 1 

